The journey begins

Qaisra Khan, exhibition project curator

The exhibition Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam is now installed inside the Reading Room of the Great Court. It’s the result of many, many months of work by not only the curators of the exhibition but also the project managers, conservators, museum assistants, the display, mounting, lighting designers, digital media design teams, graphic designers, construction teams, and art transportation companies! With everybody making sure all objects arrive safely and unpacking and putting them safely into their respective cases, this was truly a team effort. To get all of the objects displayed inside the exhibition space took over a month…and it’s finally ready!

British Museum object handlers mount a tile from Isnik in Turkey. The tile is on loan from the V&A Museum's collection.

Although as curators we had carefully selected each of the objects that feature in the exhibition, some of the objects travelled from far flung places and we had never seen them in the flesh before. Being close to these objects while they were being installed was a wonderful experience – they all surpassed our expectations! The scope of the exhibition, with 40 lenders from 13 different locations from around the world, is vast – and it has been an amazing achievement to get such wonderful objects together to represent the story of Hajj.

The magnificent Hajj banner from the Harvard Art Museum.

I was completely amazed, for example, by the wonderful Hajj banner from the Harvard Art Museum made out of beautiful scarlet red silk, which measures 369.5cm x 190.5cm. Dated 1683, it tells the story of the movement of Hajj caravans. This banner was carried from North Africa, which was part of the Ottoman Empire, by members of the Qadiriyya Sufi order on Hajj. It is a striking object which would have been seen by pilgrims from a great distance, decorated with floral patterns typical of the Ottoman era. The inscriptions in the North African style of script, known as Maghribi, clearly confirm its use on Hajj. In the 17th century this must have been a splendid beacon to guide pilgrims who were traversing great distances to reach the place of their dreams.

The exhibition opens to the public next Thursday 26 January and runs until 15 April 2012. I hope you can come along.

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